Ventura County's annual homeless count began with volunteers fanning out into encampments, parks and other areas frequented by those who may not want to be counted.

On a cold morning in January, Betty Eskey prepared pens, maps and clipboards for the day's homeless count, already certain of the outcome.

"We expect the numbers to be lower this year in Simi Valley," Eskey, executive director of the Samaritan Center, said that morning.

She was right. Simi Valley's homeless population declined 24 percent, from 303 people in 2009 to 229 this year, according to the 2010 Homeless Count released Wednesday.

The report further showed that the homeless population throughout Ventura County decreased 17 percent from 2009. Homeless advocates attributed the results to successful efforts to combat homelessness.

The survey, sponsored by the Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition, is intended to record the number of homeless people in the county on any given day, in this case on Jan. 26. However, counting continued through that week at street locations that were not visited and at agencies and facilities, such as winter shelters.

The snapshot tallied 1,815 homeless people, down from 2,193 in 2009. The majority of homeless residents, 88 percent, were adults, while 12 percent were children, according to the report. The results will help advocates compete for federal funding.

While the one-day count was down, officials noted that between 5,000 and 7,000 people are homeless over the course of a year in Ventura County.

The study also showed there was a 25 percent decrease in the number of homeless families from the previous year. And there was a 6 percent overall decline from 2007, when 1,961 homeless people were counted. A count was not conducted in 2008.

Officials acknowledge that the results underrepresent the number of homeless in the county because some people did not want to be counted. There also were several reports of service providers who felt some people seeking assistance may have been missed, according to the report.

Despite the caveat, homeless advocates were upbeat.

"It's pretty exciting," said Cathy Brudnicki, executive director of the Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition. "It shows when you write a plan and follow the plan it works."

Coalition officials attribute the decrease to several factors, including federal stimulus money, community-based homeless prevention and assistance programs, and charities that help needy people stay housed by providing them food.

Eskey and Brudnicki point to a case management program in Simi Valley, which helped decrease the number of homeless. The program sets goals for homeless clients to meet, with the ultimate goal of securing housing.

In Ventura, there is a well established homeless prevention program. Peter Brown, the city's community services manager, said it costs an average of $750 to keep a person housed, while it can cost between $8,000 and $15,000 to get a person back into housing. He also credited the creation of a transitional living facility in a once derelict motel with helping the homeless population in the city drop by 3.3 percent.

The creation of affordable housing units, such as the ones in the RiverPark development in Oxnard, are critical to decreasing the number of homeless, advocates said.

From Ventura to Thousand Oaks, there are more affordable units slated to open in future. At the same time, a number of cities are looking at emergency shelters.

In Oxnard, the homeless population dropped 23 percent. Homeless Program Coordinator Will Reed said the city plans to embark on an awareness campaign early next month, called Faces of the Homeless, to break down the stigma of homelessness.

"We're bringing the awareness to the public," Reed said. "What are the needs? What are the issues? Then we can address the issue."